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lotten4's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It all ties together really neatly in the end. Kind of sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
aardwyrm's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An amazing execution of bright, sharp lives, a mess of protagonists who are none of them remotely good but are painfully themselves, drawn out dooms and tragedies that are no less inevitable for foresight. I love all these terrible people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, War, and Violence
booksonadventures's review
adventurous
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Sexual content, War, and Violence
feyra's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, War, and Violence
thedambookshelf's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As many of you have seen in other reviews, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Park Chan is one of the most hyped books this year on bookish social media. I am not one to follow hype really, and it’s been a while since I’ve picked up something that everyone else was currently talking about, and guess what? I was not disappointed.
She Who Became the Sun follows a girl destined for nothingness who takes on the role of her brother, Zhu Chongba, and spins a way to achieve heaven's favor that has been promised to her brother from the moment he entered the world. You follow Zhu in a cunning game for power, desire, and greatness. And you certainly find it, though Zhu is not the only perspective you get, you get many but the other most prominent is Ouyang. Ouyang is a eunuch general who has risen in power to serve as the right hand to one of the most powerful Mongol princes. He has been forced to serve the people who mutilated him and is in a constant battle between his fate and his desire to be loved.
SWBTS is a very atmospheric, genuine, and deliberate read. You get to the point from the beginning to end, I never felt as if the plot was lacking nor the setting, characterization was impeccable, and everything just hit. Honestly, I’ve read another review on good reads where they stated comparing this to the song of Achilles is a disservice to SWBTS, and I could not agree more.
This book is so rich in battle and war, not romance, the political aspects feel so real and despite this story being a reimaging of 1345 china under Mongol rule, I learned more from this than I ever did in AP WORLD. All the characters and I mean this, ALL OF THEM, are anti-heroes/morally grey characters. I found it very hard to dislike anyone, and if that’s not good character building, I don’t know what is. I don’t want to get too spoilery but in terms of romance, this book was just it for me, I’m not a big fan of sappy romances in plots like this. It isn’t realistic I feel? So, the way Shelley went about it, was perfect. Also, I just want to state, Patroclus and Achilles have nothing on my boys in this.
Something else I really want to talk about is the way gender is structured and spoken about in this book, first off, I am genderfluid so having two lead characters that are genderqueer was a win for me. Especially the situation with Zhu, whose gender was assigned a female at birth but does not identify as a female, and yet she also doesn’t feel quite male either. She’s in limbo between the two. I feel like Shelley did an amazing job constructing such in a fluid and relatable manner, same with Ouyang and his struggles of dysphoria. I will say this story is rich with gender dysphoria which for me helped me feel better about the parts of me that make me experience the same dysphoria but for others, it may not come across that way, so be mindful about such once picking up this book.
Despite this book just being all-around incredible, I really felt known in Shelley’s writing and there are not many books that make me feel like that, but this was one and I cannot wait for the sequel. This book was a 5-star read for me, and honestly, it would have been higher. Oh! And who wants to join my Wang Baoxiang protection club? Anyone?
She Who Became the Sun follows a girl destined for nothingness who takes on the role of her brother, Zhu Chongba, and spins a way to achieve heaven's favor that has been promised to her brother from the moment he entered the world. You follow Zhu in a cunning game for power, desire, and greatness. And you certainly find it, though Zhu is not the only perspective you get, you get many but the other most prominent is Ouyang. Ouyang is a eunuch general who has risen in power to serve as the right hand to one of the most powerful Mongol princes. He has been forced to serve the people who mutilated him and is in a constant battle between his fate and his desire to be loved.
SWBTS is a very atmospheric, genuine, and deliberate read. You get to the point from the beginning to end, I never felt as if the plot was lacking nor the setting, characterization was impeccable, and everything just hit. Honestly, I’ve read another review on good reads where they stated comparing this to the song of Achilles is a disservice to SWBTS, and I could not agree more.
This book is so rich in battle and war, not romance, the political aspects feel so real and despite this story being a reimaging of 1345 china under Mongol rule, I learned more from this than I ever did in AP WORLD. All the characters and I mean this, ALL OF THEM, are anti-heroes/morally grey characters. I found it very hard to dislike anyone, and if that’s not good character building, I don’t know what is. I don’t want to get too spoilery but in terms of romance, this book was just it for me, I’m not a big fan of sappy romances in plots like this. It isn’t realistic I feel? So, the way Shelley went about it, was perfect. Also, I just want to state, Patroclus and Achilles have nothing on my boys in this.
Something else I really want to talk about is the way gender is structured and spoken about in this book, first off, I am genderfluid so having two lead characters that are genderqueer was a win for me. Especially the situation with Zhu, whose gender was assigned a female at birth but does not identify as a female, and yet she also doesn’t feel quite male either. She’s in limbo between the two. I feel like Shelley did an amazing job constructing such in a fluid and relatable manner, same with Ouyang and his struggles of dysphoria. I will say this story is rich with gender dysphoria which for me helped me feel better about the parts of me that make me experience the same dysphoria but for others, it may not come across that way, so be mindful about such once picking up this book.
Despite this book just being all-around incredible, I really felt known in Shelley’s writing and there are not many books that make me feel like that, but this was one and I cannot wait for the sequel. This book was a 5-star read for me, and honestly, it would have been higher. Oh! And who wants to join my Wang Baoxiang protection club? Anyone?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Dysphoria, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Slavery, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, Colonisation, Child death, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Minor: Infertility and Infidelity
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and War
ellieturnsthepage's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, and Body shaming
Minor: Slavery
totallyshelfaware's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Animal death and Homophobia
jnl00700's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
1,000,000/5 stars. I have a lot of feelings about this book. All amazing. Go read it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Misogyny, and Body shaming
fhirdiad's review
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ARC provided by the publisher.
This book is brutal in that my heart feels vaguely beaten up and I wanna go lie down. Shelley Parker-Chan did not hold back at any point and delivers a story with grounded violence, political intrigue and authentic discussions about gender, identity and gender expectations regarding multiple characters in the book, all packed into a tightly woven main plot about ambition and what becomes of you when you sacrifice everything to get what you want.
Set against the backdrop of a rebellion in the Mongol Empire's occupied China, we primarily follow Zhu Chongba, who as a child joined a monastery posing as her dead brother, and Ouyang, known as the Eunuch General, and their entwined stories about revenge and the fine line it treads with ambition. Every character in this is as messy as they come and the twists and turns in the plot are mimicked in these characters arcs; every character is involved in solid political intrigue but also are battling internal struggles about gender, expectations and what they believe are their pre-ordained fates. Ouyang was by far my favourite and is a masterfully written morally grey character, but just one of many. Every character in this book is chasing greatness and is dragged down by what greatness demands of them. Esen, a Mongolian prince and Ouyang's closest friend, Ma Yingzi, a woman haplessly dragged into rebellion politics and Baoxiang, Esen's brother who has shameful little interest in war, round out the brilliant, compelling cast of characters and with each of them comes complexity and fantastic dialogue. It was a joy to read a book where there's not a single character who is doing things without an ulterior motive; it keeps you guessing and I love all these horrible little people.
There is an epic scope to the plot - it deals with one of the largest Empire's rule, a rebellion and therefore war - but character stakes feel meticulous and intimate so even when plot was rapid and violent, I was deeply concerned with the decisions characters were making as well as their developing relationships. This book is not only very good at shaping grey morality, but the yearning in this book.... I'll be returning to that drunk Esen scene multiple times just to cry I think. In general the emotional dialogue in this book is gut-wrenching. The plot was interesting - if you know me, you know I love political fantasy and so I ate this right up - and the characters back it up so well that by the end I was crying in disbelief even when events came to their natural. inevitable conclusion. I think the pacing at the beginning was a little off in that it's a lot of set up with time jumps, but it's absolutely forgivable because the plot unfolding for the following 75% was brilliant and I sped through it just to be beaten up by a powerful, brutal ending.
Anyway I want book two and Shelley I'll be emailing you my therapy bills.
This book is brutal in that my heart feels vaguely beaten up and I wanna go lie down. Shelley Parker-Chan did not hold back at any point and delivers a story with grounded violence, political intrigue and authentic discussions about gender, identity and gender expectations regarding multiple characters in the book, all packed into a tightly woven main plot about ambition and what becomes of you when you sacrifice everything to get what you want.
Set against the backdrop of a rebellion in the Mongol Empire's occupied China, we primarily follow Zhu Chongba, who as a child joined a monastery posing as her dead brother, and Ouyang, known as the Eunuch General, and their entwined stories about revenge and the fine line it treads with ambition. Every character in this is as messy as they come and the twists and turns in the plot are mimicked in these characters arcs; every character is involved in solid political intrigue but also are battling internal struggles about gender, expectations and what they believe are their pre-ordained fates. Ouyang was by far my favourite and is a masterfully written morally grey character, but just one of many. Every character in this book is chasing greatness and is dragged down by what greatness demands of them. Esen, a Mongolian prince and Ouyang's closest friend, Ma Yingzi, a woman haplessly dragged into rebellion politics and Baoxiang, Esen's brother who has shameful little interest in war, round out the brilliant, compelling cast of characters and with each of them comes complexity and fantastic dialogue. It was a joy to read a book where there's not a single character who is doing things without an ulterior motive; it keeps you guessing and I love all these horrible little people.
There is an epic scope to the plot - it deals with one of the largest Empire's rule, a rebellion and therefore war - but character stakes feel meticulous and intimate so even when plot was rapid and violent, I was deeply concerned with the decisions characters were making as well as their developing relationships. This book is not only very good at shaping grey morality, but the yearning in this book.... I'll be returning to that drunk Esen scene multiple times just to cry I think. In general the emotional dialogue in this book is gut-wrenching. The plot was interesting - if you know me, you know I love political fantasy and so I ate this right up - and the characters back it up so well that by the end I was crying in disbelief even when events came to their natural. inevitable conclusion. I think the pacing at the beginning was a little off in that it's a lot of set up with time jumps, but it's absolutely forgivable because the plot unfolding for the following 75% was brilliant and I sped through it just to be beaten up by a powerful, brutal ending.
Anyway I want book two and Shelley I'll be emailing you my therapy bills.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Body shaming, and Homophobia
Minor: Violence and Gore
One main character is a eunuch and has a lot of self-hatred about his body, as well as experiencing both sexualisation (people compare him to a woman) and disgust (people compare him to an animal or creature) from side characters
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